


Betrayal and Brotherly Love

by kittyface27



Category: One Piece
Genre: Betrayal, Broken Heart, Brotherly Love, Depression, Gen, Hate, Head Injury, Healing, Insecurity, Memory Loss, Self-Worth Issues, Torture, ace is framed, falling into a coma, forgetting things, protective thatch, sort of satisfying ending, thatch is a protective brother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:55:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27157603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittyface27/pseuds/kittyface27
Summary: When Ace is framed for attempting to murder Thatch, he isn't treated nicely. As in, tortured into a coma nicely. But Thatch is there when he wakes up, and won't let anybody hurt his little brother ever again.
Relationships: Portgas D. Ace & Thatch, Portgas D. Ace & Whitebeard Pirates
Comments: 8
Kudos: 127





	Betrayal and Brotherly Love

**Another betrayal one-shot. Different than my recent one. Pretty depressing, but Thatch is an angel. Enjoy~**

* * *

Teach stabbed Thatch in the back. Ace was there to see it. He saw Teach holding the devil fruit and knocked it out of his hands and into the ocean. He hurried back to Thatch and pulled the knife out.

"Thatch? Oh god," Ace muttered. He was holding the knife when Teach furiously kicked him in the back of the neck, knocking him out. He was livid, having lost the devil fruit he'd searched for for so long. Nobody was stupid enough to jump into New World waters. Sea kings would kill you. Even if Teach did get the fruit, he wouldn't be able to go back up.

But now, Ace was holding a bloody knife next to Thatch. Teach went inside and shouted for help, lying and saying he found Ace after stabbing Thatch. Marco was the first to get there. Thatch was barely breathing and bleeding a lot, and Ace was knocked out and covered in Thatch's blood, holding the weapon as well.

Ace wasn't stupid enough to make himself look this way, so he probably had a sleep attack at the wrong moment. Jozu came out next, followed by many of the other commanders. Marco picked up Thatch and ran to the infirmary, shouting for help. Teach watched nervously, looking afraid for Thatch.

Jozu picked up Ace, not noticing his state. He thought the blood was his own, and grew worried. The youngest was held limp in his arms. But the worry faded away when Teach explained that Ace had tried to kill Thatch with the bloody knife on the ground. Jozu and the other commanders were livid, as the scene showed just that.

The offender had no blood on him. He didn't look like the one to attack Thatch. Ace was the one who looked incredibly suspicious. Jozu stopped carrying him gently and instead grabbed his arm and dragged him through the ship, down the stairs with loud thumps as his body roughly hit each step. He was still asleep.

He was chained in the brig, sea stone cuffs on his wrists and ankles. They knew he was strong, so the bars were made of sea stone as well. Ace was smart, he could get out of the cuffs somehow. And they couldn't let a traitor roam freely around the ship. Not after what he'd done to his fellow commander. His _friend._

What had made him do this? Teach had seen the whole thing and was talking to Pops about it. Nobody knew he was lying through his teeth, easily. So easily, falling back into step of the happy and go lucky man. The one who'd been with them for ages. Nobody would see _him_ attacking one of them.

Ace had been there three years, but that was not as long as Teach. They knew Ace had been violent when he came, attacking Pops over and over, only to fail spectacularly each time. But the commanders just couldn't see why Ace would betray. But the evidence was all there. There was no other way.

Teach was not to one with blood on his hands and holding the knife. Ace's narcolepsy screwed him over big time.

-x-

Thatch was on a hospital bed on life support. He'd lost a lot of blood and was now in a coma. There was somebody to guard him at all times in case Ace got out somehow. Marco was furious and hurt. Hurt that Ace betrayed them. Betrayed Thatch, who he'd been the closest to besides Marco. It didn't make sense. They'd only know why he'd done such a thing when Thatch woke up.

If he woke up. There was a good chance that he would die, and the truth would never be discovered. If Ace wasn't going to die now, he would definitely die if Thatch did. He would be executed for the deepest betrayal. Poor Teach had seen the whole thing when he was out for a smoke. He was very upset about it, seeing Thatch that way.

Marco found Pops outside, looking so upset. More saddened and hurt than angry. Though the phoenix could feel the anger radiating from him. "Go interrogate him. I don't want to see his face or I might do something I will later regret deeply," Whitebeard said. His voice was sad, but his expression and body language were angry.

He had a special spot in his heart for Ace. Seeing him change from angry and defiant to happy. So why would he do this? It didn't make sense. So interrogating him was the next best thing. Marco hurried to the brig to see the commanders outside of the sea stone cage. Only the door handle wasn't sea stone so they could get in and out of it if they were devil fruit users.

"He's still asleep," Haruta said. He was angry that Ace betrayed them after all they'd been through together. Marco entered the cage and smacked Ace across the face a few times before he jerked up. Marco walked a few feet away, and Ace slowly found where he was. Why he was so tired and drained of energy.

"Ace. Why did you stab Thatch?" Marco asked, voice hard but still full of hurt. Ace looked baffled.

He said, "What are you walking about?"

"Don't pretend you don't know. You stabbed Thatch and I want to know why." Ace vehemently said he'd never do that. Then he saw the blood on him. But he knew he'd never stab Thatch. But he couldn't remember anything after seeing Thatch and Teach, both of them looking at the devil fruit. "Don't look surprised at Thatch's blood. You were holding the knife, Ace."

Ace again shouted, "I would never do that! You know that, I love Thatch! He's my best friend!" He was angry that any of them would think that about him. "Just ask him! Or ask Teach, he was there!"

Jozu asked him for his story. His side of the event. Even though they were angry and hurt, all of them felt inside that something was _wrong._ But Ace's answer was not satisfactory at all. His eyes grew distant and he looked confused. Like he was trying to think of an answer. "I… don't know. I don't remember anything but seeing Teach and Thatch. Did I hit my head?" he asked, so confused.

He honestly couldn't remember. Nobody had seen Teach kick Ace's head with a haki covered foot. He couldn't recall anything after seeing them both. The commanders were angry. "You can't come up with a better alibi than that? You _don't remember?_ How the hell can you not remember killing Thatch?!"

He gasped. "Thatch is dead?!" he asked in horror. Marco kicked him in the gut. He was furious, Ace was clearly lying. Badly. He should have blamed Teach on this, but instead he was saying he didn't remember. All he'd had was a sleep attack. Teach said so, and Ace was snoring like he usually was when that happened. But Ace knew he would never hurt any of them. "Tell me! Is Thatch dead?!" he shouted angrily, not even fazing the fact that his brother just kicked him.

Haruta said, "He might be!"

"Ask him! He should know what happened! If I can't remember, he should! What did Teach say? Does he know who stabbed him?" Ace demanded, still thinking this was wrong. Jozu said that Teach said he'd stabbed Thatch. And then he fell asleep. "He's lying!"

Rayuko replied, "At least he has a story. You don't remember? Just saying that incriminates you." Ace snapped if they had _wanted_ him to lie. He wouldn't lie to them. They should know that, he's not good at lying. "You are when it's necessary. This is looking pretty bad for you."

Izo came in and kicked Ace in the jaw. He glared at them all. He asked if they didn't trust him at all. They named him commander, didn't they? They trusted him enough to do that! "And it was a mistake, clearly!" Izo snapped. Ace felt hurt at that. None of them believed him. They believed Teach over him. Ace knew he didn't hurt Thatch, despite being covered in his blood.

He said, "Please, just ask Thatch! Wait for him to wake up and then he'll tell you I'm innocent! I'd never hurt him!" He was near tears, they truly didn't trust him. He had trusted them, yet they didn't for him? When it was this important.

Marco spoke, "You will remember because we will make you, Ace." His voice was ice cold, and Ace knew what they meant. Ace asked if they were really going to torture one of their own. "You're not one of us anymore, Ace," the first mate snapped. Ace's face grew furious even though he felt heartbroken.

Everything for the last three years was erased for something that nobody had proof about? Angry tears dripped down his face, but none of them cared. Ace felt this before. Alone, forgotten, hated. Years of loneliness of his childhood came flooding back all at once. His face turned blank and emotionless.

He was all alone again. And even when the torutre started, not from any of the commanders because they couldn't be bothered to spare even a look at him, his face was blank. Even when he was cut and whipped, he repeated the truth, that he didn't remember. He denied ever doing it. Even as they tried to convince him he'd done it, he knew he hadn't. Would never. Teach was a lying traitor that pinned the blame on Ace. _He_ was the one that was lying and attacked Thatch!

He hadn't seen Pops once since the torture began. He didn't see any of his friends, anybody from the second division. He was trash and was just here to be tortured with no pay off. _He couldn't remember._ If only he did, maybe they'd believe him! But he didn't, and wouldn't lie! He wasn't lying!

Nobody even checked his head to contemplate that he was telling the truth and got hit in the head and was knocked out. He had taken his pills that day and had his scheduled naps. He wouldn't have fallen asleep. He never had sleep attacks before bed. He could only hope Thatch woke up and remembered.

If Thatch died, Ace would die, too. With a broken heart. He knew the chef would go to heaven, or whatever happened in the after life, while Ace would rot in hell. After the seventh day of torture, Ace stopped hiding the screams. He let them out because they were better than silence and weren't always in pain.

He screamed in anger and hurt. Even as he was cut, his bones broken. Punched, kicked. When his broken ribs punctured his lungs, he was treated just enough to stay alive. Not neatly, not softly. They wanted to keep him alive and make him suffer. But this was wrong. The Whitebeards didn't torture even their enemies.

Was Ace worse than their enemies? Was he really that invaluable? Did they honestly see him like this, not worthy of even being visited other than to be tortured? Even as they hurt him, even as they spat on him and starved him, he could not remember and would not lie.

What hurt the most was that Pops let them do this, and never came to visit his tortured son. They all had to hear his screams, even with the thick walls of the brig. They had to hear, but nobody came. Nobody cared enough to come and see him, talk to him. He wanted someone to talk to.

Even the Spades didn't come. They didn't care about him either. He was junk, a monster, trash, worthless. All of those feelings that he'd lost from the love of this crew were back in full force. And he just wanted it to end. But he didn't want to die before knowing Thatch was okay. He still hoped his friend would clear his name.

Things would never be the same again. His family tortured him when they didn't even do that to their worst enemies. Nothing would ever be how it was. He wouldn't trust them ever again, but Thatch had to live. Once this was over, if he was still alive, he was leaving this ship and never returning. Not when they did this to him.

Not when they caused this emotional turmoil that hurt more than the torture.

But one day, his hair was grabbed and the back of his head was slammed into the hard wall behind him. He heard a crack and then was unconscious. His abusers, the same people all the time from Kingdew's division, thought he had a sleep attack, and continued to beat him. But even hours later, after hours of hurt and shouting, he still didn't wake.

Nobody seemed to care until a full day after he'd hit his head. Marco came in because it was reported to him. He looked at Ace with distaste, but could see the blood on the back of his head. He tried waking Ace up, but he didn't. He was still alive, but deeply unconscious. Marco knew he was in a coma, now.

He treated him the bare minimum. Barely fixing his skull and laying him on his back with a terrible pillow that hurt his neck. Marco hated fixing him. He was covered in blood and cuts and bruises. It was hard to look at, but he was also glad this was happening to him. He deserved it after betraying them.

There was no way Teach was a liar when he cried over his commander betraying them right in front of him. Teach never cried, but he did now. That was proof enough that he was innocent, and Ace was a lying sack of shit. He kicked Ace in the side for good measure, but he didn't stir. Didn't even flinch or wince at the pain.

He left him there, and nobody was to torture him now since he couldn't react anyways. Those who did it frowned but nobody went inside. Nobody checked on him to see if he was okay. He was forced to drink water that he choked on before being able to swallow. He was still out cold. Nobody cared anymore.

Soon he became forgotten but for Deuce, who finally went to see him. Was the one to give him food and water even as he looked hurt at what had happened to him. He could do nothing to help. There was too much evidence against him. Ace shivered in the cold and damp brig. Alone and forgotten.

Useless, worthless, and unwanted.

-x-

Two weeks after Teach stabbed Thatch, the chef stirred. When he opened his eyes, Marco was the one there. He was reading by his bed. Thatch made a weak noise of confusion. The blonde's eyes lit up and he gave a watery smile to thatch. "What h-happened?" Thatch asked in confusion.

He wondered why he was in the infirmary. Why he was tired and hungry and thirsty. "You were stabbed, and really hurt. But you're safe now. Ace cant hurt you anymore." Thatch was completely baffled. Ace? Ace wasn't the one to hurt him. Thatch remembered clearly. Even when he was near unconsciousness, he could hear Teach swearing and Ace frantically freaking out over his friend's injured body.

He had barely seen, through the nearly closed eyes, Teach kicking Ace in the head and him falling nearly on top of the fourth division commander. Why did they think it was Ace? It was clearly Teach that attacked him. Where was the traitor now, and why was Ace where he shouldn't be?

Teach should be there. He knew they put Ace in the brig, that's what Marco had hinted at. "Ace didn't hurt me. Teach did. Ace tried helping me but Teach kicked him in the head. Then I fell asleep." Marco's face went white with horror before he got up and ran from the room. Thatch was so scared over what happened to Ace.

Traitors were treated terribly. He had no doubt Ace had been tortured. By his family. He had been framed, and they tortured him! Thatch would never forgive them! Ace would leave this ship for good, never trusting them again. It was their fault that they'd lose him.

Oh, he hoped Ace wasn't broken inside. Wasn't no longer himself. Things would never be the same and he felt tears gather in his eyes before they dripped down his face and into his hairline, as he was still laying on the bed.

He was horrified and gasped when Ace was rushed in and laid on one of the nearby beds. He was covered in blood and bruises. There wasn't a part of him that wasn't bloody. Many of the cuts looked badly infected, and he had clumsy wrapping around his abdomen. But he was asleep. How was he asleep?

Marco shouted for the nurses to come help Ace. When they looked hesitant about helping him, Marco told them Ace was innocent, even as tears poured down his cheeks. Multiple other commanders came in, and for the first time saw the state of their _innocent_ brother. Thatch was disgusted with all of them as he cried, too.

Haruta noticed he was awake and ran to him to hug him. "Get the fuck away from me," he snapped. He tried sitting up, and adjusted the bed so he could. His back hurt, where he knew he was stabbed, but he also knew it must have been sometimes since then. The smallest commander looked hurt. "Look what you did to him! He's our little brother and you fucking _tortured_ him!"

They all winced. Thatch did not want to see any of them. Whiskey looked upset, too, as she got to working on Ace. Pops came in, and Thatch glared at him hatefully. If anybody could have saved Ace, it would have been the captain. And like the others, he looked like he hadn't seen Ace like this.

Had none of them gone to see him? They knew Ace already had terrible self-esteem issues, insecurities about his place on the crew. And look what they _did_. They didn't even spare the time to see the state he was in.

"Son-"

" _Don't,"_ Thatch snarled, hurting the captain. Thatch couldn't bring himself to think of him as his father right now. As _Ace's_ father. Whitebeard didn't call him son again, but asked for the story. Thatch gladly told the truth, and Atmos left immediately to deal with the _real_ traitor. The chef demanded to know what happened.

"We interrogated him, but he kept saying he didn't remember," Blenheim said.

"Because he was kicked in the fucking head!" Thatch raved. They all winced, and Fossa said that it hadn't been a good alibi, and so it wasn't believable. "You didn't believe him at all? He _never_ lies to us. I can't even stand looking at _any_ of you."

He was absolutely disgusted and felt betrayal. They betrayed Ace and Thatch and everyone on the crew by doing this to one of their own. It already took Ace _three months_ to open up to them. And now all of that was void. All of the work put in to get Ace to accept them, and it was all for nothing because they cared more about "an original" than a commander.

Naming him commander meant they should have unwavering trust in him. Now he didn't feel any of them trusted one another. "What's wrong with him? Why won't he wake up?"

Izo said, "He's been in a coma for a week or so. His head hit the wall too hard." Thatch had angry tears and tears of worry down his face before he put his hands to them and sobbed. If he hadn't gotten hurt, this wouldn't have happened! If he hadn't fallen unconscious, he could have stopped this before it even started.

Nobody comforted him because he didn't want their comfort. He wanted Ace. But who knew when he'd wake up, _if_ he woke up. He had to have brain surgery, to fix the broken parts of his skull that they just left for a week. It would be a miracle if he didn't have brain damage or was now a vegetable.

If they ruined him, Thatch would leave. "If he doesn't wake up, or dies, you'll be finding a new head chef," he threatened. The room gasped in shock. "I'm dead serious. If he wakes up, I'm going with him wherever he chooses to go." They all looked full of guilt and self-hatred. But their feelings could never compare to how Ace felt down there, cut, hit, whipped.

-x-

For the next two weeks, everyone apologized to Ace's unconscious body, but he wasn't awake to react or hear them. Thatch stayed in the infirmary so he could be with Ace when he woke up. He had to wake up, but there was no sign of him doing so. It was three weeks after he was slammed into a coma that his eyes slowly opened.

He made a noise of confusion. Most of his wounds had healed but broken bones though many would scar for a long time. Thatch stood up and sat next to him, gently taking one of his hands that had three broken fingers. They had finally treated his ribs that had punctured both lungs. They barely kept him alive before, but now he was treated well.

"Ace, oh god, I'm so glad you're awake," Thatch sobbed. Ace was… confused. He couldn't remember anything after he went to bed. Then he woke up here. He ached, and noticed some of his fingers and toes were bandaged. His arm also had a cast on it. How had he gotten so injured? Why was he in the infirmary? And why was Thatch so happy he woke up? Did something happen to him? Did some pirate get him pretty badly?

Ace asked, "What happened to me? My fingers… and my arm. Did I get in a fight?" He was completely confused. Thatch looked broken at this for some reason. "What's wrong?"

So, Thatch told him the story. And why he was so badly injured. Ace said, "You're lying. They'd never do that." His voice was still weak.

Thatch had tears in his eyes. "They _did._ They slammed your head into the wall so hard you slipped into a coma. That's why you don't remember. God, I'm so sorry," Thatch whispered, voice thick with pain and emotion. Ace started to cry, too.

His family… they were supposed to be his family and they _tortured_ him. They didn't believe him. They believed Teach because it was convenient. He was so hurt, so destroyed inside. He was glad he didn't remember it, but that doesn't mean it never happened. Two weeks had passed since he was treated. A week after he had a brain injury. They waited a week to check on him.

They never loved him. They were just lying. They probably wanted him because he was strong and would help strengthen the crew over all. They didn't trust him from the start, didn't love him. How could Pops not have stopped them? He felt the back of his head. It was sore, but it didn't hurt too bad.

"I don't want to see them," Ace sobbed. Thatch climbed onto the bed and hugged him close as he cried. His little brother had been betrayed by everybody. At least not by Thatch. He would have never believed that Ace would try to kill one of their own. He was _punished_ for trying to help Thatch when he needed it.

Ace sobbed for a good hour, Thatch just holding him like a big brother _should_ with their baby brother. "I'm so sorry, Ace. I'll go with you wherever you want to leave." Ace felt anger at himself for wanting to stay. After what they'd done to him, he couldn't ever trust them like he had. He was holding onto the ghost of what had been.

He'd been so happy. But now he was miserable. He felt he'd regressed to how he was as a kid, before he met Luffy and Sabo. When he was alone and hated himself. When he thought everyone would be better off if he died. He wished he'd died. Then he wouldn't feel the absolute agony in his heart.

To be honest, he was glad he didn't remember. Just knowing it happened was bad enough. But memoires of his torture? Him screaming and crying and injured as he was in pain. They never cared about him. Only Thatch, it seemed. Did his old crew not believe him either? Had they taken his abusers' side?

He didn't want to take Thatch from his family, but Ace didn't miss the utter hate and disgust in his voice when he spoke about them, about what they'd done. "I… I hate them. For what they've done to you. I can't trust them to not do this to anybody else again. If they didn't believe them, would they be tortured, too? Whitebeard has never had this done before, even to enemies."

Ace didn't miss him not calling the yonko "Pops". Thatch really did hate them now. He hated them more than Ace did. And he probably hated himself, too. For not being there to prove Ace was innocent. To stop this before anyone even thought of it.

Ace eventually fell asleep. Whitebeard walked in and Thatch said Ace had woken up. "How is he?"

Thatch sourly said, "He doesn't remember any of it. But I told him everything." The captain's eyes turned misty, but Thatch felt no pity or sympathy. Not for this false-father. The captain asked if there was anything they could do to regain their trust. "I won't let him trust you again. I won't let him get attached to his abusers. It will just confuse him. It's best off if we just leave. Then you all can carry on this new, disgusting crew without us."

Whitebeard looked like he'd been stabbed with every word. Tears dripped down his face. Again, Thatch just _didn't care._

The chef didn't let anybody come in. Not when Ace was still so vulnerable and raw. He didn't let anyone in, not Marco, not Haruta, not Izo. _Nobody._ The only people allowed around him were Thatch and the nurses.

But three days after he woke up and the isolation from his torturers, Pops came in. Ace looked at him with anger and _fear._ He was strong. He could kill Ace even on accident. He hadn't cared about his "son" down there, screaming his head off, even if he didn't remember. His arm and fingers were still healing. The stitches had mostly dissolved.

The captain got on his knees and bowed, asking for forgiveness. Ace felt a tug in his heart, but it went away as quickly as it came. "No," Ace said simply. "You're not my father, and nobody but Thatch is my brother. I'm leaving when I'm better."

Thatch said, "And I'm going with him. Now you'll have two commander seats to fill." Whitebeard broke into tears, but did not stop bowing. But it didn't matter. Two of his sons were no longer part of that family. He was not their Pops anymore.

Once Ace had healed completely, the two packed their things. Deuce came with them, but nobody else. Deuce had done nothing, because he was unable to. He was not a commander. He only went in to try and feed Ace's comatose and broken body. So, he was coming, too. Thatch felt zero regret for leaving. If he stayed, he'd only be surrounded by people he hated and were betrayed by.

Staying would not be mentally healthy for either of them. Ace especially. The ship was silent as the three got onto one of the nicer small boats. The three sailed away, the only one looking back was Deuce as the ship lamented it's loss, even if it was their fault in the first place.

Five years later they would make contact with the ship again. Ace wanted to tell them he finally forgave them. They had a new crew, Ace's third try. But, they did not rejoin. Ace had felt no feeling of love for any of his former "family". He just told him how he felt, and the new crew sailed away on their own adventure.

Thatch had never resented Ace for leaving, and Ace never felt resentment for Thatch being unable to vouch for him and stop it all. The two didn't know if they ever filled the commander seats, and they didn't much care. They'd moved on, and the Whitebeards should have, as well. The former commanders felt true happiness again, only it wasn't with the Whitebeards.


End file.
